Tell your story

LKY wrote to the ST forum encouraging the first generation leaders and pioneers to write their stories as they are, as truthfully as possible for the future generations. He has openly admitted his respect for Chin Peng, a worthy political opponent. What is important is to tell truthfully without distortion, and to respect each other for who they were. A man worthy of respect is a man who believes in his ideas even if that was not favoured by history, and his principles. Once a person stoops to play dirty and disregard basic human decency and behaviour, he is not worthy of any respect. Basically it is still between good decent men and indecent men and not about talents or clever men who are crooks.

UNSW - The Angmo TuaKi Syndrome

The UNSW episode shows how vulnerable we are when we believe in the Angmo TuaKi Syndrome. Many would always want to believe that the Angmo will be benevolent and honourable gentlemen that we can look up to and adore. That they will not scuttle an agreement, pack up and run with not regards to the damaging consequences. That saving their own skin is all that matters. The govt should pursue the matter to the fullest and recover every cent that we spent on the project. Take them to court and sue them for every penny. We need to stand on our principles in negotiating a deal and stand by it. And the same principle must apply to our negotiation with those that are not Tauki but think that they are Tauki and would renegate on whatever that were agreed upon and signed. We shall not waver in negotiating a fair deal and will stick to it. We shall not succumb to tribal pressure and kampong mentality.

Sylvia Lim rebuked by Jayakumar

Sylvia Lim opposed the new bill to allow the PM to nominate two members to the Legal Service Commission and raised the spectre of executive interference in the judiciary. It reminded Jayakumar of the Conspiracy Theory of abuse of executive power. The last time this happened, an investigation was conducted and Jayeratnam was fined. Would we be seeing another investigation? Given the high quality of the people in political office today, such abuses of executive power is only a conspiracy theory. There are all kinds of checks and balances to prevent it from happening. Quite safe at the moment. Even in corporate governance in the private sector, when there are good people in charge, the present system will be more than adequate. For that matter, when a decent man is in charge of the old NKF, nothing of the like would have happened. It all boils down to decent men in charge. What happens if loanshark Ah Seng got elected into power? Or say a George Bush equivalent is elected into power? Can our system prevent such an eventuality? Are there enough safeguards in our system to prevent a rogue govt from coming into power? Given the past experience, the people has been proven to be quite naive and can elect any thing into power. This possibility cannot be ruled out. When that happens, and when too much power is vested into an office, would we be digging ourselves into a very deep shit hole.

$1 tax for use of plastic bag

Hongkong has done it. It is going to impose a $1 tax for the use of a plastic bag. The reason is to protect and save the environment. So the lesser plastic bag is used, the better for the environment. Thus to get the Hongkongers used to the valuable resource at a high price is a way to teach them to conserve the use of plastic bags. This reminds me of the theory on how to make the people appreciate how valuable water is and the need to save water. Make them get use to high water price by charging more plus higher tax in advance. We should apply the same principle in the use of plastic bag and follow the lead taken by Hongkong. We should prepare the people ahead in the need to conserve the environment, save gaia, and make them pay $1 for the use of each plastic bag. And we can excuse those who can't afford to use plastic bags for their swill to let them pour the swill into the rubbish chutes.

Political party manifesto 7

Political parties' support comes mainly from the poorer masses that form the bulk of the population. Without the support of the massess, no political party can come to power except from the barrel of the gun. Political parties have all the reasons to work for the masses. And the masses are the one that really need help from the political party in power. The two have a symbiotic relationship. Cost of living is a key concern of the masses. This is contributed by rising cost and taxation. The first will hit the masses very badly in every way. The second, taxation, is often skewed to favour the masses as they have less to pay tax and needed every cent to keep them going. Taxes that put a heavy burden on the masses are contrary to their interests. The pervasive nature of GST is not good for the masses unless it is fine tuned. No form of tax is good for the masses if they have to pay for them. The impact of the increasing GST will find the masses getting poorer despite the rebate. It will never be enough as life goes on day after day and year after year. In the long run the masses will still have to foot increasing taxes through GST. Why are there no political party fighting for the masses to modify the GST so that at least the essential services and food stuff are GST exempt? Why is it that political parties that claim to represent the masses and needed the support of the masses could so happily dismiss the plight of the struggling masses? Why are the masses supporting political parties who are not for their interests? Or is this a temporary trend, a transient phase that will be over taken by the basic realities, that the masses will eventually know which party is for them or against them?